The Third Generation
by lotus-genie
Summary: The third generation of Kinnikuman characters are here. Witness their adventures and experiences in this fic!
1. Prologue

_This story uses the Japanese names of the characters since thaey are the ones that I am familiar with. The inspiration for this story comes from the Kinnikuman Third Generation forums. There are two different third generation forums, with overlapping characters but different stories. This is my attempt to merge the two stories into one story that still makes sense. All characters belong to their prospective owners on the boards. I am keeping their origins and profiles as similar to the original as I can. I only hope I am doing the characters and their stories justice. Please notify me if there is anything wrong.

* * *

_

_Fourteen years ago_

Mantaro Kinniku smiled lovingly at his wife, Rinko. The couple was on a trip to a resort planet to celebrate Mataro's recent victory. Their eldest son, three year old Keitaro, had been left at home. However, Rinko insisted upon bringing their younger son, Gai, who was only one year old. Mantaro had agreed because the boy was especially attached to his mother—he bawled his lungs out whenever she wasn't around. Besides, it was not good to argue with one's wife, especially not before going on vacation.

"Look, Mantaro; the stars are so beautiful!" Although Rinko had gone into space quite a few times after becoming the Queen of Planet Kinniku, the beauty of the astral bodies had never failed to amaze her.

"Not as beautiful as you, my dear." Mataro put his arms around Rinko playfully.

"Stop kidding around." Rinko blushed and gently tapped her husband on the head.

While his parents were engaged in some romantic teasing, Gai was crawling around the ship. His one-year-old eyes gazed curiously at the array of buttons and gadgets before him. Slowly, he began to crawl toward a giant glowing thing that attracted his attention.

When he reached the apparatus, Gai let his hands probe over the shiny surface. He hesitantly stood up on his shaky infant knees and peered over into the hole in the center of the strange object. Without warning, he fell straight into the contraption. Terrified, he began to wail. In his panic, he slammed his hands into the control panel of the pod that he was in. This activated the pod and sent it on a random course away from the ship.

As soon as they heard the sound of something ejecting, Mantaro and Rinko swerved around. But it was too late: before their eyes, the escape pod of the ship ejected into space, carrying away their son.

* * *

"Mommy? Are you crying again, Mommy?" Three year old Keitaro Kinniku stared anxiously at his mother. "Don't be sad, Mommy. You've still got me and Daddy."

"Everything's okay, Keitaro." Rinko sniffed slightly. "I just got some dust in my eye."

Keitaro nodded skeptically. Although he was only three, he knew when his parents were happy or sad. Ever since Gai had disappeared, his parents had been in mourning. Every so often, he would see his mother or father break into tears. He hated to see them like that.

"Is Gai ever gonna come back?" The words had slipped out from Keitaro's mouth. Instantly, Rinko's eyes filled with tears again. Keitaro mentally slapped himself. He had made his mother sad, even though he did not mean to.

"No, I'm afraid not. But we can never stop hoping—maybe your brother's still out there." Rinko answered calmly, trying to hide her grief.

Keitaro did not say anything anymore. He hated himself for taking after his father and saying things like that to make his parents sad. He hated his parents for always being so sad over his brother. Most of all, he hated his brother for disappearing and making his parents so sad.

* * *

Keitaro woke up at night in a cold sweat. In his dream, his mother was holding Gai, and they were walking away from him. He tried to follow them, but he wasn't fast enough. Slowly, slowly, they disappeared into the darkness of his mind.

"Mommy! Mommy! Are you there?" Keitaro called. Although he knew Gai was no longer there, he had to know if his mother had also gone away.

"Hush, baby; are you still awake?" Rinko's voice soothed Keitaro.

"I thought I would never see you again, Mommy."

"Don't worry, Kei, Mommy's here." Rinko gently tucked Keitaro in. "Kei, Mommy needs to go away for a while. I don't know when I'll be back, but I'll always remember to come back to you."

"No!" Keitaro grabbed on to his mother. "Don't leave! Gai's already gone. Why do you have to go too?"

"I'm not going to disappear like Gai." Rinko smiled reassuringly. "I'm just going to find some of Mommy's friends. Remember Kei, Mommy will always love you, so she'll never leave you forever."

Keitaro gave a quick nod. "Come back soon!"

_

* * *

Thirteen years and eleven months ago_

Rinko groaned and opened her eyes. She could not remember, no matter how hard she tried, what had happened last night. After what had happened to Gai, Rinko had felt that she could not stay on Planet Kinniku any longer. Everywhere she looked, she was reminded of her lost son. Thus, she had left her family to come to Earth, the only other place that she knew. She had wondered around, unsure of what to do.

Rinko felt a wave of nausea hit her, and she leaned over the side of the bed to vomit. Now everything came back to her—last night, she had been in a bar, drinking herself silly in an attempt to take her mind off of her son. Then, after too many alcoholic drinks, she had lost sense of what she was doing. It was also at this time that she realized she was naked and covered only with a blanket. Squealing, she pulled the blanket tighter around her chest, only to receive a greater surprise.

"What the…" A man's voice groaned out from next to Rinko. "I've got the mother of all headaches—feels like Dad used his signature move on my friggin' skull."

Rinko was frozen in shock as she stared at the blue skinned individual, who was sitting up and rubbing his head while muttering obscenities. Out of sheer instinct, she began to hit and push at the man while screaming at the top of her lungs.

"Hey, wait; lady, what are ya doing?" The man shielded himself while desperately clutching his side of the blanket. "What's goin' on? I don't even know ya, and somehow we're sharing a bed and yer hitting and screaming."

"Who are you?" Rinko screamed, calmed only slightly by the man's assertions.

"I'm Max Man, and don't ya think I'm the one who should be screaming, seeing as how this is _my_ house, and yer lying naked in _my_ bed?"

Rinko gave a scared little nod before attempting to get up and then sitting back down when she realized that she had no clothes. She glanced around and realized that her clothes had been thrown haphazardly over the bed. Quickly, she grabbed them and put them one. She then jumped off of the bed and ran to the door, careful not to step in her pool of vomit.

Max Man shook his head slowly. He swore to himself that if the women he picked were all this crazy, then he would never go to a bar and pick up a girl as drunk as he was ever again.

_

* * *

Thirteen years and five months ago_

Max Man blinked at the disheveled woman sitting on the park bench. She looked exactly like the girl from _that_ night, except that she was considerably less neat and had a bulging belly. Max Man hit himself in the forehead. That was the last straw—he would never frequent a bar with drunken women ever again.

Max Man walked up to the girl; he had to ascertain her identity before panicking. "Nice weather we're having, huh?"

The girl stared up at Max Man, recognizing him. "You…" She whispered and passed out on his chest. Max Man groaned and did the only thing he could—he picked her up and carried her to his house.

Rinko woke up to the smell of food being burned and the sound of Max Man's cursing. In her life, she had known only on other man who was willing to cook for her. The thought of her husband caused a rush of embarrassment. Everything that had gone wrong came flooding back to her.

"Hey, dinner's here." Max Man all but slammed the tray on the bed. "Eat up."

"T-Thank you." Rinko stuttered. She began to slowly shove the food in her mouth.

* * *

In time, Rinko and Max Man started to become friends. Although they both did not talk about their pasts, they were still able to associate with each other. It was when he assumed that the two had grown close enough that Max Man popped "the question."

"We've known each other for a couple of weeks at least, Rinko." Max Man looked at his companion nervously. "I know that yer pregnant…"

"Yes?" Rinko looked back at him just as nervously.

Max Man gulped a little before continuing on with his words. "I know that it's more than likely that I fathered the child, so even if I don't have anything more than friendly feelings for ya, I'm willing to take responsibility."

Rinko stared at Max Man for a bit before shaking her head. "I'm sorry Max Man. I'm married already." She stood up and walked away. "I'm sorry for leading you on, and for everything else I did to you. I can't take your offer. I need to sort out these things on my own."

Max Man watched her walk farther and farther away, until he could not see her anymore. "Even if we're just friendly acquaintances, ya and yer child are still welcome to come back here!" He called to Rinko's back before turning back and shutting the door.

_

* * *

Thirteen years and six months ago_

The police officer stared incredulously at the little girl sitting in front of him and his seven comrades. She had been found at the scene of her family's murder, covered in blood and insisting that she had committed the crime. No one had believed the little girl—of course, who would? She looked so innocent, too innocent. So now, it was up to this team of police officers to find out the truth.

"Alright, Achylus; I know that your family's death was traumatizing, but you can help us give them justice. Tell me, who killed them."

"I did."

"Answer me honestly. Who killed them?"

"I did, and I'm telling the truth."

"Supposing you killed them, but just supposing, why did you do it?"

"Mist told me to do it. They were holding me back, so I killed them"

"Who's Mist?"

"Mist is the little voice in my head."

"Now you're talking nonsense. Tell me the truth about who killed your parents."

"I did; and guess what? Once you kill someone...you can't get it out of your system...and now Mist said I should kill you."

Before anyone could stop her, Achylus grabbed the gun of the nearest policeman. She proceeded to shoot all eight of the officers dead. As they fell, their faces wore surprised expressions at the fact that a little girl had killed them.

Aschylus walked out of the police station. Everyone gave her a wide berth; no one dared play the hero and stop her. She disappeared into the night, still conversing with "Mist."

_

* * *

Thirteen years and four months ago_

Rinko winced as her labor concluded. Giving birth to a child was something she had done twice in the past, but this time was different. The other times had been in the hospital, with her husband sitting outside and trained doctors helping her. This time she was alone; she had done everything, including cutting the umbilical cord on her own.

Rinko stared into the eyes of her new daughter. The baby had her mother's face, but her pigmentation definitely belonged to her father. Rinko felt like bursting into tears. The child was a gift to her: a light in the darkness that had shrouded her life ever since her son disappeared. Yet, this little girl was also her curse: it was a constant reminder that she had betrayed her family, no matter how unconscious she was when she had done it.

Rinko's fingers tightened around the scissors. It was not too late; she could still end the child's life. In the end, she decided against it, as she was not a cruel person. Sobbing, she held the child up to her bosom and fed it for the first and last time.

* * *

Rinko sobbed as she stood on the bridge. It would be so easy to end her life by plunging into the depth below. It had just taken eight months to mess up her life. She had taken the child, relatively healthy despite its premature birth, to an orphanage. There, she had left her baby to fend for itself in the years to come.

Rinko wondered if she had failed another child. The heaven had granted her a second chance, but she had blown it big time. With her tears clouding her eyes, she started to climb onto the railing.

"Don't do it!" Rinko felt someone grabbing onto her arm and looked back. She received the biggest surprise of her life as she saw her husband, Mantaro.

"Why are you here?" Rinko whispered. "I betrayed you; I betrayed Kei. I was the one who lost Gai. Why are you still helping me?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Mantaro scooped Rinko into his arms. "I love you. I loved you when we first met and I still love you now. What happened to Gai wasn't your fault. Come back with me—I need my wife and Kei needs his mother."

Rinko shook her head slowly. "I want to go back, but I can't. Some time after I got here, I got drunk and…and…I had someone else's baby. You don't want someone like me."

"You're wrong." Mantaro looked at his wife determinedly. "I didn't marry you for six years and have two children with you to just abandon you like this." He gave a rather silly grin. "Besides, you put up with the stupid things that I do all of the time, so I guess putting up with the stupid things that you've done is just Karma."

Rinko tearfully smiled and gave her husband a playful push. This, unfortunately, had the effect of knocking Mantaro off of the bridge, causing him to hang on to the railing for dear life.

"Aah! Mommy, Rinko, anybody—help me! Help!" Mantaro whimpered with big tears of fear sliding down his face.

_

* * *

Thirteen years ago_

Robin Jazzlyen Mask sat in the hospital's waiting room, swinging her legs impatiently. Her mother had been in the delivery room for hours, and she still had not come out. She wished that her father was here, but he had gone on another ridiculous wrestling tour.

"Robin, are you tired?" It was her grandfather's voice. While her father was seldom at home, it seemed to Robin that her grandfather was always there for her.

"No, Grandpa. I'm fine." Robin shook her head vehemently, partly to sweep away the feeling of exhaustion that she had. Her bedtime had been hours ago. "I wanna be the first to see the new baby!"

"Robin, you're only two…" Her grandfather began to speak, but was cut short by Robin.

"I'm two 'n a half, Grandpa. I'm a big girl." Robin insisted, but her grandfather's cape looked so warm…. Robin shook herself awake again. She wanted to see her new brother or sister.

Two more hours later, the doctor came out, wearing a grave expression. "Mr. Robin Mask? I have some bad news about your daughter-in-law."

"What is it?" Robin's grandfather shot up from his seat.

"I think it would be better to talk in private." The doctor and Robin's grandfather walked away into another corridor, leaving Robin sitting by herself.

A few minutes later, her grandfather came back into the room. He looked sad, but he was also trying to hold back his emotions for Robin's sake.

"What's wrong, Grandpa?" Robin looked up at her grandfather. "Are Mom and the baby okay?"

"The baby is perfectly fine, but your mother…" Here Robin Mask found the words caught in his throat. His granddaughter was too young to learn of death, especially since it had just occurred to someone so close to her.

"What happened to Mom?"

Instead of telling everything to her at once, Robin Mask decided to ready his granddaughter to the blow. "In this world, people die."

"What does 'die' mean?"

"It means…it means…it is like when people go to sleep, but when they die they never wake up again. They leave for some better place, and they never come back again. Your mother died, Robin. I'm sorry I was not able to save her."

Robin looked up at her grandfather in shock. "You're lying. Right, Grandpa?" However, her grandfather only shook his head slowly. Robin allowed the fact that her mother was dead to sink in before beginning to bawl.

"It isn't fair, Grandpa! I don't want Mom to die! Why can't you make her not dead?" Robin sniffed loudly. "Why can't Dad be here? I want him to be here! I want Mom and Dad to be her!"

Robin Mask could do nothing but hold his granddaughter and namesake tight as she cried her little heart out. He too wished that his son could be here, so little Robin would not have to suffer so much.

_

* * *

Eleven years ago_

Keitaro looked up at the graduating wrestlers. They were standing there, looking tall, strong, and serious. Well, they all looked like that except for one wrestler.

The wrestler in question was at least a head shorter than all of his companions. His long dark hair had been swept into a messy ponytail. From a distance, he looked a little like a girl, but the snoring sounds that he was making convinced Keitaro that he was a boy. Upon closer examination, it showed that he was actually sleeping while standing up.

Keitaro leaned over in his seat to take a better look at the wrestlers. After his mother had left him and come back after about a year, Keitaro had grown apart from her. Instead, he now felt a closer connection to his father and his father's profession. In short, he loved Choujin and hoped to become a wrestler someday.

As Keitaro watched, Mantaro got up on the podium to give a motivational speech to the new wrestlers. The effect was ruined when Mantaro slipped and fell down the podium, landing on his head. He spent ten minutes crying and whining before getting back up and delivering his speech.

After the speech, it was time for the awards. One by one, the awards were handed out until the only thing left was the "best wrestler" award. Then, a name was called out.

"The best wrestler award goes to Li Feihu."

At these words, the sleeping wrestler opened his eyes and looked around in confusion. "What was that, huh? They call my name, yep?" His voice showed that the reason for his height was that he was a lot younger than his peers: only around eleven or twelve. Also, just the accent he had was enough to indicate that he was Chinese.

"Li Feihu, get up here. You got the best wrestler award."

The boy, Feihu, nodded sleepily. "Could you give me few seconds, uh-huh? I just woke up from a nap, yup." As he spoke, he walked forward and knelt down to receive the award. "Thanks for prize, yep. Mom, Dad, and Big Sisters are all gonna be happy about this, yep."

Keitaro watched the proceedings in awe. He promised himself that as soon as he grew old enough, then he would be in the same position as the Chinese boy. Well, he would be receiving the award, but he wouldn't be sleeping when they called his name.

A scream startled Keitaro from his thoughts. He looked toward the source and giggle as he saw his father being attacked by pigeon poop.

_

* * *

Ten years ago_

Max Man stared at the little girl sitting on the bench. It seemed that the past just loved haunting him. In fact, the little girl reminded him so much of someone else that he had to rub his eyes to make sure that he was not dreaming.

"Hello, what's yer name?" Max Man walked up to the little girl and knelt down so he would be on face level with her.

"The Sister said she shouldn't talk to strangers." Her little girl stuck out her tongue. "So get away form me, stranger."

Max Man choked back a laugh. The girl acted so much like him when he was a child. He remembered when he had once said the same thing to someone. There was no mistaking it—even if her looks were not concrete evidence, then her attitude was proof enough.

"Hello sir, what are you doing?" Max Man looked back to see an elderly nun "I'm sorry if she has been bothering you. She has a saucy tongue."

"It's alright." Max Man assured her. "In fact, I've taken a liking to her."

"I'm glad to hear that. Usually, all the visitors consider her too wild."

"What visitors?"

"You haven't heard?" The nun shook her head and chuckled. "I forgot to introduce myself. I am Sister Martha of the Hope Orphanage. This little girl is one of the orphans—Serena.

"She's a cute li'l thing." Max Man smiled at Serena. He was glad to finally know his daughter's name.

"Say hello to the nice man, Serena." Martha encouraged the young girl.

"You better not get any funny ideas, Mr. Stranger." Serena stated.

Max Man ignored her comment for a while and started to talk to the nun. Maybe it was finally time to live up to his responsibility as a parent.

_

* * *

Three months ago_

"Everything is going according to plan." A dark figure chuckled. "The invasion of Earth will be a massive success."

"Why could we not fight those pathetic beings now, Father?" A female voice asked.

"This is not an ordinary invasion, my child. We are not here to conquer Earth—if we truly wanted that planet, we could have taken it long ago, before the natives polluted their planet into a landfill. No, we are here for something greater: revenge on Kinnikuman, the only one to ever defeat me."

"I do not understand. What good is Earth in our revenge plans?" The female voice sounded confused.

"On Earth, there exists a boy who is Kinnikuman's grandson. If we are able to take him prisoner, we will have Kinnikuman and his entire family at our mercy."

"Why could we not sweep in, capture every resident of Earth and the check to see if the Kinniku is among them?"

"It would be a waste of time. Even though I have his name and his picture, it would still be like looking for a stalk of hay in the ocean to try to find him among the Earthlings. Therefore, I have prepared this clever ruse to capture him."

"You are brilliant, Father."

"Thank you."

"Apparently, he wasn't brilliant enough to remember to pick up his socks." Another female voice snapped. "Get in here and take your socks back to your drawer right now!"

"Yes, Dear." The ominous figure sounded oddly defeated.

_

* * *

This is the best I could do for a prologue. There might be out-of-character moments, but I tried my best again, please notify me if you think anything is wrong. Please also leave a review so I can know what to improve in my fanfiction_


	2. The Most Unlucky Gai in The World

_This chapter is abut the younger Kinniku brother, Gai. Keitaro will get the spotlight in upcoming chapters. This just exists so I would not have to write a massive flashback for when the brothers meet. Gai's backstory was heavily edited from what it was like in the forums so it would fit with my storyline. Again, I hope I have done a good job with the characters._

It was just a normal day for Gai Sakaki. He was riding his bike back from school when, suddenly, a black cat sprang out and walked across his path. Swerving wildly to avoid crashing into the cat, Gai biked under a ladder and crashed into a caterer's cart, spilling the salt in the process. As soon as he got up, he noticed his feet stepping on a crack in the sidewalk. Thinking nothing of it, he continued walking before the black cat again cam out of nowhere and tripped him up, causing him to bump into two men moving a large mirror. The impact of Gai's body was enough to knock the mirror to the ground and break it.

Gai groaned and straightened himself up. To have done all of this in a row, and on Friday the thirteenth spelled infinite bad luck. However, Gai was not the superstitious type and he had gotten used to the bad luck that occurred throughout his life. In fact, he took a perverse pride in being the most unlucky student in his school. As he turned around to retrieve his bike, Gai found his face crashing into two mounds of soft material. Instantly, he felt something smash into his face, knocking him into the ground and creating a painful, burning sensation on his left cheek.

"What are ya trying to do, ya frigging perv?" In front of Gai, there stood an average sized high school girl in a leather jacket. Her shoulder-length hair, naturally black, had been dyed blonde. Her skin had been heavily tanned and her lips were covered in white gloss. Her fingers played with the lollipop that was hanging out of her mouth like a cigarette. In short, she looked like a punk.

"Hey there, Upperclassman Midori. Still looking as hot as ever." Gai commented, getting to his feet.

Another fist smashed into Gai's face. "How many times do I have to tell you? Call me 'Boss!'"

"Yes, Boss. Yes, Boss" Gai whimpered, wondering if anything else could go wrong today.

* * *

"It is time." The ominous figure stated. "Are you prepared to do what you must do?"

"I am, Father." The girl's voice answered. "It will be simple to defeat him in this wrestling match, but why do we have to go to such extremes? All of this seems too complicated."

"We do this to avoid attracting attention." The first voice explained. "If we simply asked for the boy to be handed over, then it would be simple, but Kinnikuman will notice something fishy. The best revenge comes unexpectedly."

The girl's figure nodded. "Then let us give Kinnikuman his unexpected just desserts."

"Yes….After so many years of waiting and plotting, my dreams will finally become reality! I will pay back all the humiliation that Kinnikuman gave to me a thousandfold!" The ominous figure broke into a stream of evil laughter.

"Dinner time!" A female voice called from deeper inside the ship.

"Geez, woman, how many times do I have to tell you? Don't disturb me while I'm laughing or plotting!" The ominous figure hollered back.

Instantly, a dark aura filled the ship. "I said it's dinner time so it's dinner time. Don't you try to say anything different! At least consider our daughter—she's a growing girl and she needs her nutrient to fight." The voice, although somewhat calmer toward the end, carried a creepy tone.

"I'll be there in a moment." The ominous figure called back.

A shadowed minion next to his overlord gave a slight snicker. "Man he's whipped. Just goes to show that no matter what you are or who you are, all men fear their wives."

Instantly, a ball of lightning incinerated him for his snide remark. The ominous overlord swept one last glance at his troop before turning around. "If anyone dares mention the 'W' word in my presence ever again, I will make them wish they were burning in a volcano instead of facing my wrath!"

"Come on, Honey, the food's getting cold." His wife called from the dining quarters.

"I'll be there in a minute." The evil overlord went into the deeper areas. This time, no one dared to laugh.

* * *

Gai sat at the dinner table, noisily wolfing down his beef bowl as he listened to his mother nag about his grades. His father, toward the side, just read his newspaper while propping his feet on the table until his wife yelled at him to take his stinky foot away from the food.

"Hey, mind if I join you?" Midori walked into the house, slamming the door behind her.

"Midori, what a pleasant surprise!" Gai's mother stared at Midori, slightly confused. "Aren't you supposed to be at your own house?"

"The old lady can't cook to save her own hide, so I decided to grab a bit at your house." Midori held up a bowl. "Fill her up."

Just at this moment, the TV changed to show a special bulletin. "We interrupt your program to bring you a special announcement—Aliens have invaded Earth! No, this is not a joke: the aliens have really come. Now, they are only willing to halt their terrible offensive under one condition. We will now show you this footage, broadcast live from the invaders' den!"

On the TV, the face of the Alien Leader appeared, now fully visible. He was a large alien sitting in a wide throne. His skin was a sickly blue, with brown veins visible all over his limbs. His eyes resembled those of a vulture, always watching and waiting to drag one down into their depth. His eyebrows rested above his eyes like two bushy tails, making his eyes all the more terrifying. He had four pairs of horns, three pairs of which stuck out from the side of his head like bull horns while the last set rested on the top of his head.

"I have a proposal for you pathetic scumbags." The Alien Leader's voice boomed. "As you know, I have arrived along with my massive army, ready to annihilate you at the snap of a finger. However, I am not an unreasonable man. If an Earthling will have a choujin wrestling match with one of our greatest fighters, I will be willing to spare your pathetic race. The Earthling, chosen at random by us, is this man." A picture of Gai flashed across the screen. "Unless he fights and defeats our representative, I will destroy this planet. The match is in a week. We will await his presence."

Gai's mouth dropped open as he stared at the TV. "Dad, was that for real? Did they really ask me to fight?"

"Yes, son, I'm glad you have been chosen for this honor." Gai's father placed a hand on Gai's shoulder. "Do not disgrace the family."

"N-no way!" Gai exclaimed. "I'm too young to die!"

"Honey, don't you live on Earth? Don't you want to protect your home from destruction?" His mother asked concernedly.

"No—I just want to live my life without anyone challenging me. I'm just a normal guy! I'll die in a choujin wrestling match!"

Both of Gai's parents frowned. Their son was the only hope for the planet, but he was stubbornly refusing to fight. Unless they had an idea about how to change his mind, they were all doomed.

Finally, Gai's mother stood up and motioned for Midori to follow her out of the house. Once they were safe out of earshot, Gai's mother whispered something to Midori.

"No way! I am not doing that!" Midori protested.

"Please, Midori, this is the only thing that can motivate Gai!"

"How many times do I have to say no? Why should I care if the Earth is destroyed?"

"If the Earth is destroyed, you and Gai will die too."

Midori hesitated for a second. "Okay, I guess can do it, but that means all of you owe me big time!"

When Midori and Gai's mother reentered the dining room, they found Gai's father reading the paper while Gai was nowhere in sight.

"Honey, where did Gai go?" Gai's mother asked.

"He locked himself in his room and refused to come out." Gai's father sighed. "Let's just go into our rooms and pray that we die quickly and painlessly."

"I'm not going to give up that easily!" Midori announced. She charged up the stairs and kicked down Gai's door. "Get out of the room, you lazy bum!"

"I don't want to!" Gai whined. "I still have so much to do, and more than half of those things involve you!"

"Gai, I'm offering you deal." Midori squeezed the words out. If it wasn't for the fact that Gai's mother had begged her, she would not have even considered such an option. "If you get in that match and win, then I'll marry you."

"Really?" Gai cheered up immediately. "I don't care if a god was the one challenging me! I'll go a beat that guy into the ground!"

Midori smiled. Maybe this wasn't so bad after all. "Okay, Gai, now that I'm your fiancée, we need to prepare for some things. Let's go outside. I have something that we need to do."

* * *

Gai grinned lewdly as he and Midori stood outside. Perhaps, after all these years, they would finally get somewhere.

"Gai, close your eyes." At Midori's words, Gai quickly squeezed his eyes closed and puckered up his lips. His heart raced as he thought of his first kiss. However, his eyes snapped open when he heard a clinking sound and realized that instead of kissing him, Midori had chained a huge pile of text books to each of his legs.

"What's the meaning of this?" Gai stared at Midori confusedly.

"If you're gonna be fighting against that alien, then you'll need training." Midori climbed on her motorized scooter. "Start running laps around the city."

"Why should I?"

"May be I didn't phrase that right." Midori revved up her scooter. "Start running unless you wanna be run over!"

"Mommy!" Gai screamed as he began to runaway from Shinobu and the fast approaching scooter.

"Run, Gai, Run!" Midori cackled evilly

"That was pathetic!" Midori barked. "You only did twenty laps! How are you ever going to win that wrestling match and save the Earth?"

"Give me a break." Gai gasped. "Just let me catch my breath."

"At the rate you're going, you'll exhaust yourself to death before getting stronger." A voice boomed from seemingly nowhere."

"See?" Gai panted. "Even the mysterious voice agrees with me."

"I appreciate what you're trying to do, but training doesn't work that way." A figure emerged from above a tree close by. He wore a mask with the letter "f" on it, a cape with "flatulence" written on the back, and a pair of red tights. "I am Flatulenceman, an I can show both of you the true path of the Choujin!"

"Go ahead." Midori muttered. "Gai needs all the help he can get."

"The let us not waste a moment of time! We head for the mountains tomorrow." Flatulenceman used his fart to jettison him from the tree. Although it seemed that he would make a fantastic landing in front of the kids, he ran out of power and plunged head-first into the ground.

Midori sighed. Flatulenceman and Gai would be like the Blind leading the blind. She only hoped that it would not end in disaster.

* * *

The week passed quickly, with Flatulenceman taching Gai as many moves as he could and forcing Gai through gruesome obstacles to improve the boy's fighting skills. Meanwhile, Midori ate popcorn while watching Gai struggle, threatened Gai while chasing him on her scooter, threw rubbish at both Gai and Flatulenceman when she thought their performance unsatisfactory, and occasionally joined in the sparring simply to get a chance to beat Gai up.

On the day of the match, the three arrived in the Alien mothership, where the battle would take place. In the front of the ship, there a standard ring, with benches for the normal spectators and a throne for the Alien leader.

"I am glad to see that you have accepted my challenge. Very well, let the fight begin." The alien leader pointed to a figure off to the side. "This is who you will be fighting."

The figure that had been pointed to was a female. She was a beautiful girl with dark blue hair and silver wyes. She had perfect skin and a nice figure. She was wearing nothing except black armor around her torso, groin, and knees and elbows; she was also wearing black boots and gauntlets. She had two little horns sticking up from the center of her head and two bigger horns sprouting on the side of her head.

"No way, there has to be some mistake!" Midori protested. "We were told that Gai would be fighting a warrior, not a girl."

"My daughter is as much a warrior as any of my soldiers." The Alien stated. Turning to his daughter, he whispered in her ear. "Remember what you have to do."

The alien princess nodded. "I pretend to lose to him, and then, while he is unconscious, I knock him out and kidnap him to be used as hostage."

"Enough talking. Lt's get started already." Gai was practically drooling at the prospect of fighting such a pretty girl. If he was lucky, he would be able to get in a few gropes during the fight.

The two stepped into the ring. The alien princess glanced over Gai and smiled. "Let's introduce ourselves. I like to know the names of those who I'm about to pound into dust."

"My name is Gai Sakaki. I like beef bowls and cute girls such as you." Gai could not take his eyes off the attractive alien princess.

"My name is Pandora, and I hate plums and perverts like you!" Before anyone could respond, Pandora rushed over in a burst of incredible speed and slapped Gai in the face. "Next time you fight, if there is a next time, watch your mouth in the ring."

The bell rang. Gai dashed toward Pandora, trying to tackle her. To his surprise, she simply flew up into the air to avoid him. Before Gai could get up from the ground, Pandora flew down and performed a camel clutch on him. Because Pandora had a light body weight, Gai was able to whip his legs into a kneeling position and thrust his head back, causing Pandora to lose her balance. However, she soon adjusted herself with her flight abilities. Just as quickly, she forced Gai into a bow-and-arrow lock.

"I have a proposal for you." Pandor smiled. "If you surrender and become our hostage, Father will leave this planet untouched. If you persist then I'll kill you with this hold."

"Gai, don't you dare surrender!" Midori called out when she saw Gai hesitate. "If you give up, then I'll never speak to you again! In fact, I'll even fire you from your role as my underling."

"You heard her!" Gai snapped at Pandora. "I'm not giving up, no matter what you do."

"Maybe just stretching isn't enough for you." Pandora's body crackled with dark lightning, shocking Gai. "Let's see how many volts you can take before you die."

Gai screamed as the lightning coursed through his muscles. Now, in addition to the stretching, he has to take this incredibly painful electric torture as well.

"10 volts, 50 volts, 70 volts, 100 volts, 150 volts, 180 volts…" Pandora grabbed Gai's arms even tighter. "You're one of those guys with a back bone, but sooner or later my lightning's going to liquefy that."

"I'll never give up!" Gai asserted as his body twitched from the electricity.

"You just need some more volts." Pandora began counting again. "200 volts, 250 volts, 300 volts, 400 volts…"

"Flatulenceman, do something!" Midori screamed. "If this doesn't stop then Gai's going to die."

"I can't do anything." Flatulenceman muttered. "If I went in the ring, it would be third party interference. Gai would lose."

"Your friends are getting scared." Pandora commented. "They don't need to worry—I'm not a cruel person. Besides, I tire of this position." Pandora released Gai's neck and legs and slammed both feet into his back, launching him into the air.

"What's she doing?" Midori exclaimed. Her questions were answered as Pandora locked her arms around Gai's waist and sandwiched his head between her legs, slamming him in a piledriver.

"How do you like that Electric Driver?" Pandora asked, releasing Gai, who was stuck head-first in the mat.

"Is it over yet?" Midori called to Flatulenceman. She had covered her eyes to avoid seeing Gai crash.

"I don't think Gai's going to be getting up anytime soon." Flatulenceman muttered.

"What are you doing? Get up or I'll cancel our engagement!" Midori yelled at Gai.

"I'm getting up already, Boss. You don't have to yell." Gai pulled himself up from the mat and shook his head a bit.

"You survived my Electric Driver?" Pandora shook her head slowly. "You really are a Kinniku."

"Kinniku? Isn't that Kinnikuman's last name? But I'm not related to that guy." Gai looked around confusedly.

"Good job giving everything away." The Alien leader muttered as he slapped his forehead.

"You are a Kinniku, one of the sworn enemies of my clan." Pandora began charging at Gai. "This time, I will kill you and avenge my clan's honor."

"Stick to the plan!" Pandora's father snapped.

Pandora stared at her father sadly. "I'm sorry father, but now I want to win. If anything, winning this match with my full strength will show the respect I have for this boy, who would rather die than surrender, even when he is outclassed." She resumed her charge. "Gai Kinniku, you're the only Kinniku that I've ever respected! Let my show you my admiration for your fighting spirit by giving you a fitting warrior's death!"

"Sorry, Pandora, but I'm not gonna die that easily!" Gai also charged forward, and tried to enter into a grapple with Pandora, but he did not notice the girl lowering her head and charging her horns with electricity.

"Take this—Demon's Stake!" Pandora slammed her side horns into gai, sending him flying over her shoulder and landing in a twitching heap. "Are you dead now?"

"Sorry to disappoint, but I seem to have adjusted a bit to being thrown around." Gai stood up and shook off the electricity. He now charged forward and seemed to try to grab Pandora's head. However, as Pandora levitated up, he grabbed her chest instead. With a surprised yelp, Pandora recoiled. Gai then used the opportunity to jump at Pandora and latch on to her back before she could fly away.

"You actually grabbed me." Pandora smirked. "However, you're far from eve subduing me." She flew into the air and fell, turning so Gai's back was slammed against the ring poles. She proceeded to do this many times, but could still not get Gai to let go.

"This match concerns my future. I'm not letting go that easily!" Gai yelled, hanging on for dear life.

"You're a glutton for punishment; either that or you've got an electricity fetish." Pandora's body crackled with electricity again. "Either way, it doesn't matter. You can hang on until you be come a crisp!" She began to fry Gai with her electric powers again.

"I won't lose!" Gai screamed, clipping himself to Pandora's sides with his legs. He then began to punch and slap at her, hoping to find a way to knock her out.

Pandora gasped as the boy's hands closed around her smaller horns. There was no way that the boy could have known about this being her most sensitive points, but by sheer luck, he had been able to find her weakness. Her mind started to slip into darkness as his finger tightened around the pass-out points located around her horns. She was embarrassed and angry about losing to a Kinniku, but at the same time she was glad that she had fought and honest battle with all of her strength. And there was the benefit of knowing that she had pumped this boy with her lightning; watched his face contort and his limbs flail as he learned that her race was not to be trifled with. Maybe she had taught the Kinnikus to respect her race after all…With a last, pathetic fizzle, Pandora's lightning went out and she collaped, unconscious.

Everyone in the ship, even Gai, gasped as they witnessed something unbelievable. Midori was the first to react, breaking into a loud cheer. Falatulenceman was next, following in Midori's footsteps. The aliens just watched in silence as Gai stood up and jumped for joy.

"Time to get married!" Gai exclaimed. After so many years of lusting after his upperclassman, he was finally going to become an official item with Midori.

"Is that true?" Pandora had awakened from hr brief faint to her Gai's exclamation.

"Of course, why would I lie?"

Pandora sprang on Gai and hugged him. "I'm so glad to be getting such a strong husband! Now everything with Kinnikuman can get resolved. After all, he would never harm his own daughter or brother-in-law."

"What do you mean?" Gai asked confusedly. In one day, he had received two pieces of information that just led to more questions.

"Don't be silly. Everyone knows that when a man grabs a woman's horns knocks her out, it shows his love. What you said just confirms that."

"No, wait! I didn't propose to you!"

"Hey where are you going?" Flatulenceman asked Midori, who was getting up from her seat and leaving.

"I'm getting out of here before everyone realizes what's going on and let that idiot chase after me." Midori waved toward Flatulenceman as she walked away. "See you around."

"Gai," Flatulenceman called toward his student, who was struggling with Pandora. "I know you have a lot of questions, but they will all be answered in due time. Meanwhile, I have to tell you that although you did well in this match, it was but a fraction of your true potential. I would like you to come on a training trip with me so you can unlock your powers as well as the secrets of your past."

"Uh…Okay," was the only answer a stunned Gai had for his master.

"Very well, we start in three days." Flatulenceman called back. _And maybe you can even meet your brother…_He thought to himself.

* * *

Keitaro Kinniku sneezed. Someone had obviously been thinking about him, but he had to wonder who that person was. Tucking himself back into his bed in the Hercules factory, he decided that he would sleep and prepare himself for the trials that the next day had to offer.

* * *

_Of all the character, I like Midori the best. As Gai's "boss" she'll be appearing whenever the story shifts to Gai. For those who don't know, Midori is a punk "garu,"a sort of teenage girl that defy tradition, make themselves look ultra-westernized, and act extremely materialistic. (they even sometimes stop just short of selling their bodies to maintain their life style) In case anyone looks on the Third Generation forums (either one of them) you'll know that Flatulenceman is really Keitaro and Gai's uncle._


	3. Rites of Passage

_All characters and plot points in this chapter belong to their respective owners. The Serena/Toxtone fight was paraphrased from the original Third Generation fanfic by Tyrranoclaw (the forum administrator on one of the third gen forums) as well as Jaguar Muscle's rewrite of it, since that is the way that the original creators of the characters would want the fight to be. I also borrowed some elements, such as Galeman and Zheng Han from Neo Muscle forums, yet another third generation website. Maris, a choujin in the story, is based on Maris from Maris the Supergirl by Rumiko Takahashi. I apologize if any of the characters have been rendered OOC, although some characters did not have much personality data and I made do with what I had. I also hope I was able to get the accents right, as it was never my forte._

* * *

Keitaro groaned as he splashed cold water on his face in hopes that it would wake him up. After waking up in the middle of the night due to a sneeze, he only slept fitfully—the rest of his night was marked by nightmares that kept waking him up very five minutes.

"Ya look like you've seen a ghost. Wassup; haven't been getting no sleep?" Keitaro's best friend and dorm-mate, Terry the Third, walked into their shared restroom.

"Do the circles around my eyes really give me away that much?" Keitaro stared closely in the mirror. "I hope these don't scare off the girls."

"Those eyes ain't gonna scare off the girls—yer face is." Terry answered.

"This is a mask!" Keitaro pointed at his mask, which looked spookily similar to a face. "My real face looks much better than this stupid old mask!"

Terry just shrugged. "Whatever; all the ladies fall for me anyway."

"I hate you." Keitaro muttered.

* * *

"Crap, I'm late!" Serena, now almost fourteen years old, dashed through the downpour. It was as if Murphy's Law was in full effect—just as one thought it could not get any worse, it started raining.

Serena dashed around a corner in a sharp turn, adjusting her balance so she would not slip on the wet pavement. Her heart pounded not only from the strain of running, but from the excitement of knowing that she would be participating in her debut match. Usually, one had to be fourteen before one was allowed to participate in an official fight under the dMp's banner, but Serena's thirteen years and four months made her almost fourteen. So what if she had to stretch the truth a little? Fighting in a public match was her dream, and it had been her father's dream to see his daughter fight.

Serena gasped as she burst into the entrance to the Phillips arena, a popular place for holding wrestling matches. Mentally reminding herself to remain cool-headed and not panic because she was late, Serena announced her arrival. "Sorry I'm a bit late. I'm Serena and…"

"Your match is over there. Hurry up!" A young man interrupted Serena's introduction and pointed her in the direction of the ring. "If this match begins without you, you'll lose by forfeit."

Uttering a quick expression of thanks, Serena rushed toward her match. While on the way, she made sure that she kept up her air of confidence. This was her time to shine, and she would make her father proud of her. Four generations of her family, dating back to the first Sneagator, were depending on her to represent them, to avenge them, and she would not let them down.

* * *

Keitaro stood alongside his classmates. They were about to graduate from the Hercules Factory and become official choujin. For all of them, this was a glorious occasion. However, the law of the universe decreed that whenever an elaborate ceremony occurred, the participants would receive itches in unscratchable positions. For Keitaro, this itch was on his butt, and he had to fight against the urge to stick his hand into his underwear and start scratching like crazy. In his attempts to combat his urges, he started twitching.

"What the 'ell are ya doing?" Terry hissed.

"I can't help it! My butt itches!"

"Then scratch it."

"I can't!" Keitaro whined.

"And now, the students will be given one last test before their graduation." The headmaster announced.

"What test? I wasn't told about a test!" Keitaro panicked.

"Don't ya remember 'bout those graduation matches we's suppose to have?" Terry snapped at his friend. Keitaro, like the rest of the Kinniku family, was prone to frequent bouts of idiocy.

"Oh yeah, the graduation matches." Keitaro shrugged. "It just slipped my mind."

"If you're done, Mr. Kinniku, the matches will start now." The headmaster growled in exasperation.

As the students watched, the Hand of Hercules rose from a crack in the ground. On each of the fingers, there was a ring surrounded by a wire fence.

"I'm goin' fer that there middle finger. Which one's yer pick?" Terry looked over to Keitaro.

"Are you sure you've got enough guts to walk into that ring? I've seen what you acted like before a match." Keitaro looked down toward Terry's knees. "Besides, your legs are shaking."

"What?" Terry smashed his fists against his legs angrily. "Come on, legs, you're humiliating me!" He looked up at Keitaro. "Don't worry 'bout me. It's walking up to the ring thass the problem. You've also seen what I'm like once I'm actually in there."

"But still…"

"Anyway," Terry dismissed Keitaro with a wave of his hand. "My problems are none a' yer beeswax. What I'm concerned about is which finger you'll choose."

"Well, I guess I'll go for the pinky…"

"Aww, don't be such a lily-liver." A girl with a southern accent popped up from behind Keitaro. She looked almost exactly like Terry, except for the fact that she was a girl; she also had blonde hair instead of Terry's brown hair. It was a genetics problem that would have baffled even the greatest of scientists—where did a guy whose parents were both blonde get brown hair from?

"Quillen, will you please stop appearing like that? You scared me." Keitaro complained.

"Come on, you're the prince of planet Kinniku. Whatcha so scared 'bout?" Quillen grinned at her brother and Keitaro. "You should be goin' fer the thumb."

"The final test has begun. Those who wish to become true choujin, step forward and select a ring. Now, who will go first?" The headmaster asked.

Quillen smirked at her brother and then planted a well-aimed kick into Keitaro's butt. As expected, Keitaro fell forward and landed in front of the headmaster.

"Ah, so the first challenger has come forth. Which ring will you fight in?"

"He wants the thumb, sir. Yep, definitely wants the thumb." Quillen called. Next to her, Terry smirked.

"Don't listen to them. I just fell down." Keitaro protested. "I'll just be getting back to my place in the very last…"

The headmaster growled and grabbed Keitaro by the collar. "Listen, Kinniku, I have had it up to here with your stupid antics. Now, you will get in the ring on the thumb, and you will fight in the match. If you don't get up there by the time I count to five, I will stick my antler fist up your pathetic little backside and twist so hard that you would wish you were being probed by perverted aliens!" The headmaster slowly released Keitaro. "1, 2, 3…"

"On the other hand, the ring doesn't look half bad. I guess I better get the final exam over with quickly." Keitaro ran to the ring like a dog with its tail on fire. Back in the stands, Terry and Quillen held their sides in pain because they were laughing so hard.

* * *

Serena grimaced at the noise as she entered the ring. Although she had expected public matches to be rowdy, she had not been prepared for such an onslaught of lights and cheers. Pushing the thoughts out of her mind, Serena turned to face her opponent and received the shock of her life. "Tox? Is that you?"

"Why wouldn't it be?" Toxtone flashed a smile to his best friend as he leaned his plastic, cell-phone shaped body against the ring post. He gave a short laugh that was both playful and mocking. "Glad to see you could make it—we were all wondering if you would even show."

"Wouldn't miss it for the world, old buddy. As you can see, I just got stuck in the rain." Serena replied, wringing the water out of her clothes. "Nobody told me that you were gonna be fighting me."

"It was on the sheet that you received announcing your debut match; or did that wash away in the rain too?"

"I guess I was so excited about my first public match that I forgot who I was fighting." Serena planted herself down into the chair next to the ropes. The countdown began as the ring announcer formally introduced the wrestlers.

The bell rang as soon as the countdown ended. Serena and Tox instantly entered serious mode. The crowd was on the edge of their seats as they watched to see who would make the first move. Serena cautiously stood her ground, waiting for Tox to advance close enough. When he did, she suddenly rolled to the side, coming behind her friend and snapping a kick to the bend of his knee. Serena smiled as she saw Tox's leg buckling.

"I got first strike!" Serena exclaimed. Behind her, the announcer jabbered something about Serena's use of tactics, but she paid it no mind.

Serena rushed in to use her attack again, but Tox backed against a post, preventing her from rolling behind him.

"Didn't work on Dad…and it won't work on me!" Tox gave Serena a sly smile and lunged forward.

* * *

"Excuse me…pardon me…please move…" Naoko Maeda, formerly known as Sister Amelia, shoved through the horde of people to find her seat. She usually did not pay much attention to wrestling matches, but this case was different.

Toward the center of the bleachers, she could see her employer, Max Man, wave at her. Muttering a couple more apologies, she edged her way over to him.

"How's Serena doing?" Naoko brushed her bangs out of her eyes. Although she had long since taken up cutting her hair short, she still had a problem with her bangs growing too fast.

"See for yerself." Max Man answered, pointing at the ring.

Naoko gasped as she saw Serena struggling with Toxtone. "Someone stop them! They could get hurt."

"They're wrestlers. They know what they're doin'" Max Man assured Naoko. "You've been around 'em for years. They do this stuff for fun."

"Yes, but it worries me every time I see them doing this. What if, just maybe, someone does something wrong and Serena get hurt." Naoko shook her head. Even when she had seen Serena do things like this over and over again, she had never gotten used to it. "You're her father. Why did you train her to do this? She's just a little girl."

"She's _my_ daughter!" Max Man snapped. "I hired you to help me care for her, not to give me parenting tips. I know how to raise my child."

"I'm sorry." Naoko whispered, keeping her eyes on Serena. "I guess I never stopped thinking of her as a fragile little baby. She's grown so strong over the years." Tears welled up in Naoko's eyes. "I wonder if my own child would have been like this…has she lived…"

"You had a kid?" Max Man stared incredulously at Naoko. "I thought you were a nun."

"I was, but I left my convent to marry my husband." Naoko sighed as tears dribbled down her face. "It was a happy marriage: for the two years we were together, it was like paradise. But then, he died in a car accident…there was nothing anyone could have done to prevent it. I was so shocked that I fainted and hit my belly on a table corner. I miscarried my three month fetus—it was a girl, and she could have been so much like her father. I hope their souls are happy in heaven." Naoko wiped the tears from her face and turned to Max Man. "I'm sorry if I bored you with that tangent. I tend to get lost in my memories."

"No, it was an interesting story." Max Man could not feel anything besides a burning embarrassment. Despite hiring Naoko as Serena's nanny for ten years, he still knew next to nothing about her. Well, at least that answered his questions about why Naoko always seemed to be so close to Serena, as if the girl was her child and not Max Man's.

"I hope she's strong enough to break free before that boy hurts her." Naoko watched Serena's match intently. "I'd hate to lose another child."

"I know she can break free." Max Man grinned as he watched Serena's movements. "I trained her; Tel Tel Boy trained her; we put in our best efforts into producing this fighter. She _will_ win!"

* * *

Keitaro braced himself and focused on the trapdoor in front of him. At any second, his opponent would be coming out of there. Slowly, a figure rose from the ring and stepped out of the shadows. It was his father—the 59th king of Planet Kinniku, Kinniku Mantaro.

"What are you doing her, Dad? I thought I was wrestling against the teachers." Keitaro looked at the father, thoroughly confused.

"Well, it's not my fault that one of them came down with a case of double-dutch pneumonia on the day before final exams." Mantaro scowled. "I was in the middle of eating my rice and cow when they called me to make a 'special guest appearance.' I just wanna stay home and watch TV."

"Amen to that!" Keitaro nodded his head firmly. "So, should we begin wrestling now?"

"Fine." Mantaro settled himself into a fighting position. "I'm not going easy on you, son."

"Neither am I, Dad." Keitaro also entered into a crouch.

* * *

Down in the stands, Quillen gritted her teeth in frustration. She was going to go for the index finger, but the speed demon Galeman had beaten her to it. Now, she needed to wait until Galeman finished his match before she could get in the ring.

"Don't worry, Sis." Terry gave his sister a nervous smile. "It's better to have some time to prepare."

"Terry, I don't need no time to prepare for nothing." Quillen snapped. "Besides, fat lot of good you're doing with yer 'preparation time.' You've been doing nothing but shaking in yer boots."

"There you two are!" An attractive blonde woman rushed up to both Terry and Quillen and gave them both a massive hug. "How's it going fer two a' ya."

"We haven't started our fights yet, Kari." Quillen turned toward her older sister. "What are ya doing 'ere."

"Mum and Dad couldn't make from the ranch, so they sent me to check up on ya guys. So, did ya two get in any trouble? Are ya controlling yer temper, May? Are ya getting to know more people, Chris?"

The twins stared at each other. Kari had a tendency to confuse Terry's name with those of his grandfather and father because all three generations had the same first name. To solve this problem, Kari simply resorted to calling everyone by their middle names.

"Everything's fine, Sis." Quillen answered her sister.

"Well, I'd hope so. Mum and Dad were worried 'bout you two. Said that you'd get in all sorts a' trouble with the teachers." Kari looked toward the rings on the Hand of Hercules. "So, who's fighting whom?"

"Keitaro's going up against his old man in the thumb. I wanted the index, but that no good varmint Galeman beat me to it. Terry called the middle finger, but he's using 'warm-up time' as an excuse to stay out. That weird smiley kid is duking it out with someone in the ring finger. And…"

Just then there was a horrid ripping noise, followed by an agonized scream. As Quillen, Terry, and Kari watched, some nurses went up to the ring with a stretcher and came back carrying Galeman. His right arm had been ripped clean off while his left arm seemed to be barely attached to his shoulder.

"I'm sorry!" Maris, the Hercules Factory's Counters instructor and Galeman's opponent, rushed up to the nurses. "I didn't mean to rip his arms off! I was just doing a Palo Special and I lost control. I swear I didn't mean it!"

"It's okay, Maris. I know how your strength seems to get out of hand sometimes." The headmaster assured a panicking Maris.

"Galeman, how many finger am I holding up?" Maris asked.

"Three…and I need to ask you a question." Galeman looked up at Maris, wincing from the pain in his arms. "Did my face suffer any damage?"

"No, but I don't see how you can worry about that in a time like this!"

"Hey, my face is the most important part of my anatomy. It's what keeps the girls attracted to me." Galeman protested as he was carried off to the sickbay.

"Zheng Han. Go with him and make sure that he's alright." The headmaster ordered. A green skinned, draconic student stood up and followed the nurses into the sickbay.

"Well, Sis, do ya still wanna fight against Maris now that you've seen what she ken do?" Terry asked, a blanket of cold sweat covering his body.

"Of course—this just makes me wanna beat her more." Quillen grinned. "This oughtta be the greatest challenge I've ever come up against."

"Personally, I wouldn't get in the ring with that gorilla woman if you paid me a million dollars." Terry asserted, staring nervously at the Hand of Hercules. He wanted to get in the ring even less now.

"Okay—it's time for me to show everyone what I'm made of!" Quillen watched Maris get back in the ring and charged toward the middle finger. "What're ya waiting for, Terry? Get in the ring!"

"Uh…I think I have a stomachache?" Terry tried desperately to think up an excuse that would let him survive the day with his limbs intact.

"I ain't buying that load a' turd, Chris." Kari stared at her younger brother. "I know ya have the strength to get in that ring and kick the butt a' anyone who goes against ya! Ya just don't know it yet."

Terry sighed. "Why couldn't I just a' stayed in my room and played my video games? That way I would a' saved my energy and kept my arms on my body."

"Chris, Mum and Dad are waiting for ya to make 'em proud. I'm waiting for ya to make me proud." Kari patted her brother on the shoulder. "Go out there and win one for the Kenyons!"

Terry looked back and forth from his sister to the ring and then decided to just get everything over with. With a cry of "I'm going in!" he charged into the ring on the index finger with his eyes closed.

* * *

Serena groaned in pain as she struggled in Tox's sickle hold. Surprised by his unconventional attack, she had hesitated and given him time to catch her. Next to her, she could hear the referee's voice, asking her if she submitted. Even as her limbs felt ready to pop off at any given time, Serena was determined not to let her father down and loosened one of her feet from the hold. With a mighty kick, she busted Toxtone's kneecap and forced him to loosen his grip. Quickly, she slipped out and distanced herself from her friend.

"Did you forget? That kind of thing never worked during training." Serena smirked smugly at her friend. "My legs are my strongest points, and unlike Dad, I've learned to use them to escape from your stretch holds."

"I see, but that was just an appetizer." Tox grinned at Serena, glad that his younger rival was putting up a good fight. "Here's the main course!" His hair parted a little to reveal a glowing cord, crackling with electricity. "What good are your legs when they're all tied up?"

Thoughts flashed quickly through Serena's head as she leapt away from the antenna, which rushed at her with blinding speed. Somehow, she managed to remember her father's notes from the many times that he had instructed her on how to become a sneaker. She grabbed her ankles, pushing her legs back and morphing into a shoe. With her legs morphed, Tox would not be able to bind them.

"Looks like the new generation Serena has also mastered her father's sneaker transformation! What a surprise! This is going to make the match interesting!" As she heard the call, Serena grinned while her head was still inside the sneaker.

Toxtone frowned, a little frustrated that his plan hadn't worked. He watched the girl fall onto his antennae. Before any more damage could be done, he recalled his appendage.

Serena, watching Toxtone suck his antenna in, did not hesitate to go on the offensive. She leapt at Toxtone with great force.

"Step Stomper!" She cried as she descended.

Tox realized that he was a sitting duck standing like this, so he dropped down and flattened himself in hopes that the impact would be lessened. Nevertheless, he still cried out a little as the shock of Serena's weight smashed him into the ring.

Serena demorphed and turned to Tox with a bit of concern. He was still—too still for comfort. "Tox? Are you okay?"

Tentatively, she stepped forward, observing her friend. When he still made no movement, she knelt down next to him. The entire stadium was silent, with tension saturating the air. Even the reporter had stopped his yapping to watch the two. Serena extended a hand and touched Tox's shoulder lightly.

"Gotcha! Antenna Crush!"

"What?" Serena jumped back, but it was already too late. An extra-long antenna wrapped around her and squeezed tightly. Toxtone chuckled as the announcer declared that he had 'played possum.'

"I'm sorry, but all good things must come to an end." Tox threw Serena against the ring ropes using his antenna. As she bounced back toward him, he slapped her into another set of ropes with his antenna. This continued until the Serena attempted to counterattack by aiming a kick at Toxtone. The cell phone simply grabbed her leg with his tentacle, throwing her out of the ring. Serena'shead impacted with the ground, knocking her out.

"The winner is Toxtone!" The bell rang three times, signifying his victory.

"Serena!" Naoko shrieked, jumping up from her seat and rushing toward her unconscious girl. Behind her, Toxtone dashed toward his friend, sprouting apologies.

In his seat, Max Man growled. He had expected Serena to win her debut match, but the results were completely disappointing. It seemed that his daughter needed some more training.

* * *

Keitaro and his father circled each other slowly, trying to find a weakness in each others' defenses. Slowly, the two balled their hands into fists…and started to play Rock-Paper-Scissors.

"What do you think you're doing?" The Headmaster snapped.

"We're figuring out ways to end this non-violently." Keitaro explained as he and his father now started to engage in an eating contest.

"Both of you start fighting now!" The headmaster roared.

"Who knew that deer were so loud?" Mantaro thought out loud while picking at his ears.

"I'm not a deer, nitwit!"

"No, I think he's a goat." Keitaro asserted.

"I'm not a goat either!" The headmaster growled in frustration. "Just start fighting already!"

Ignoring everything that the headmaster had said, the two Kinnikus continued to dilly-dally for a while before finally entering into a grapple. This lasted for some time before Mantaro brought his knee up in a strike to his son's stomach.

Keitaro quickly released his father's hands and rolled with the blow to lessen the impact. However, it still hurt more than he thought it would. Next, Mantaro aimed a flurry of slaps at Keitaro's face. Although he tried his best to avoid the strikes, Keitaro was not fast enough to dodge.

"Had enough yet?" Mantaro asked as Keitaro staggered back, his face red from all the hits that it had taken.

"No way, Dad. Now it's my turn!" Keitaro ran back to the ring edges and shoved his back in his back against the ropes. He bounced toward his father in a flying kick, aided by the ropes' elasticity.

Mantaro stuck out both of his hands to catch Keitaro's kick. Although he was forced back a little by the force, he was still able to maintain his balance. As soon as the force of the kick subsided, Mantaro spun around and threw his son toward a pole.

Keitaro flipped in midair so his feet would impact with the pole and not his head. As soon as his soles hit the post, he flipped back toward his father. "Okay, Dad, maybe I'm not so good on offense, but even you'd have a hard time getting past my defense." Saying so, he tucked himself into the position of the Burning Niku Curtain.

"Well, let's see how far you've gotten in your Niku Curtain technique." Mantaro stepped up to his son and poke a finger at the aura surrounding Keitaro. Instantly, his finger and hand began to burn. Mantaro screamed, running around the ring and waving his hand. After three rounds, he stopped, knelt in a corner and blew on his injured finger.

"How do you like that, Dad? I've got more control over my Burning Inner Strength than you, so my Burning Curtain actually burns." Keitaro grinned and came out of his defensive position. "Watch out, I'm coming for you."

"My Niku Curtain might not be as powerful as yours, but I doubt you can break it down." Mantaro now assumed the pose of the Burning Niku Curtain.

Keitaro threw a few punches against his father, but all were deflected by the fiery aura that surrounded Mantaro. Not wasting anytime, Keitaro switched to kicking instead. When even that failed, he instead crouched down and began tickling Mantaro.

Like all members of the Kinniku family, Mantaro was extremely ticklish. Within ten seconds, he was laughing so hard that he could barely catch his breath, much less retain his pose. "N-not f-fair! You tickled me!"

"Anything goes." Keitaro answered. Quickly, he shifted his hands from tickling his father's legs to putting his father in a Boston Crab.

"Nice try, but you've still got a long way to go." Mantaro forced himself into a handstand and leapt into the air using his arms. As soon as he was off the ground, he clipped his legs around his son's head and threw Keitaron into the mat. He followed up with a Mexican Rolling Clutch hold, pinning Keitaro.

Keitaro, at this time, felt a strange churning motion in his bowels. Almost against his wishes, his body proceed to expel a gush of gas—straight into his father's face. Mantaro instantly released the hold and fell to the ground, holding his nose.

"Whoa, Son, what did you eat?" Mantaro fanned his nose. "Well, at least you're learning the family business. Now I'll show you how it's rally done." He raised his backside and let one rip in Keitaro's face.

"Dad, I thought we were wrestling, not getting into a farting contest!"

Mantaro rolled his eyes. "You have no sense of humor." He rushed over and grabbed Keitaro by the legs, hoisting his son into the Kinniku Buster position. "Time for this to end!"

Keitaro waited until he and his father were a good distance in the air before making his move. Using all of the power in his body, he pulled his head out of his father's lock and flipped the two over in mid-air. Not wasting anytime, he proceeded to grab his father's legs and perform the Kinniku Buster. "You're right, Dad—I'm ending this! Kinniku Buster Reversal!"

The two hit the mat with a terrifying thud. Keitaro released Mantaro, who fell back onto the mat. "Dad, are you okay?"

"Yeah…You win." Mantaro muttered. "Now, could one of the three of you help me up? I think I dislocated my groin."

* * *

Terry felt his teeth clatter as he stepped into the ring. He threw one last look behind his shoulder, but was dismayed to find that Kari was still there, staring at him. He looked back toward the ring. Now that he was actually in here, there was no turning back. Instantly, he felt a rush of excitement and confidence surging through him. Perhaps this would be fun, in a dangerous, scary sort of way—a little like riding an extremely tall roller coaster.

"I was expecting you, Terry." The shadowed figure in the ring turned around, revealing a grizzled, but still strong Native American man.

Terry sighed in relief. "For a second there, I thought I'd get someone real tough, like Scarface or Seiuchin, but it's just you. Are ya sure ya got what it takes to wrestle anymore, ya old fogey?"

"Didn't your father ever teach you that looks can be deceiving?" The Native American man looked a little bit angry.

"He sure did, but there ain't nothing deceiving 'bout ya, Red Wolf. Shucks, I almost feel sorry fer ya." Terry shook his head slowly, his face spread into an expression of sympathy. "Everyone knows that yer glory days are over, so why bother getting back in the ring to git humiliated? If I was you, I'd git my old Indian behind back to the reservation and smoke me a couple a' pipes."

"Watch your mouth!" Red Wolf was thoroughly infuriated now. He charged toward Terry, holding out his left hand. Using his Choujin Kyoudo Manipulation, he transformed it into a tomahawk. "I'll show you what this 'old Indian' can do!"

"I was kidding 'round." Terry protested, leaping away to dodge Red Wolf's Tomahawk Chop.

Red Wolf continued to assault Terry with a barrage of Tomahawk chops until he saw that the boy was tiring. Then, he grabbed Terry in one of his special moves—the Last of the Mohicans. Terry found himself thrown down on the mat in less than a second.

"Okay, Pops, I take back what I said 'bout you an' then pipes, but yer still too old to keep me down!" Terry jumped back up and aimed a kick at Red Wolf's head.

"Do you think I could be hit by something so elementary?" Red Wolf reached out his hand and easily caught Terry's kick.

Terry grinned. "Like you said, looks are deceiving." He slammed an Enzuigiri into the back of Red Wolf's neck and sandwiched both feet around the older wrestler's neck, twisting to slam Red wolf into the mat.

Red Wolf, not wasting any time with words, aimed a sweeping kick toward Terry's legs. Once Terry was down, he grabbed the boy in a Texas Clover Hold and started to elevate his body.

"Oh no, ya don't!" Terry turned his body slightly and rammed his elbow into Red Wolf's kneecap. The pain caused Red Wolf to momentarily loosen his grip and burst out of the hold. Grabbing both of Red Wolf legs, he now performed a Clover Hold of his own. Clasping Red Wolf's head with his legs, he turned it into his finisher, Texas Hol-em. "Haven't you watched no movies? In every case a' Cowboys vs. Indians, cowboys win!"

"Your personality needs work," Red Wolf smiled despite the pain that the hold caused him. "But your wrestling is first-class. I submit."

Terry released the hold and collapsed into a tired heap. This was the most tiring match that he had ever been in, and he had no desire to go through this ordeal ever again.

* * *

Quillen stood in the ring, facing Maris. Mentally, she prepared herself for whatever Maris might have thrown at her.

"Let's just get this over with." Maris sighed. "They don't pay me to stand around and look at students."

Quillen instantly charged forward and began to punch and kick at Maris. Maris simply blocked all the blows and yawned a bit. Quillen soon switched tactics, jumping back and assuming a defensive position.

"You got tired of taking hits at a brick wall, huh." Maris clenched her hand into a fist. "All I need to end this match is one punch." She charged at Quillen, the force of her steps causing the ring to shake.

Quillen stood in place, watching for the right time. As soon as Maris got close enough, she lifted up her foot and slammed it into Maris' solar plexus. The combination of Maris' own force and Quillen's force doubled Maris over. Quillen now hopped on her back and lifted up Maris's arms, twisting them as hard as she could.

"Owww! I submit!" Maris yelped and pulled away. "If I was a normal human, you would've twisted my arms off."

Quillen looked at the clock "Under three minutes—a new record."

* * *

Quillen grinned triumphantly at the boys as the exams concluded. While she looked as pristine as she had in the morning, the boys were covered in bruises and sore joints. "So, guys, how'd it go?"

"I had to wrestle my dad, and my body still hurts…" Keitaro whined, trying to work the kinks out of his neck

"Red Wolf looks old, but boy, does he pack a punch!" Terry shook his arm around a bit to get the pain out.

"I beat Maris in under three minute." Quillen beamed. "And you boys said I couldn't take her on."

"Well, she has six times the strength of a normal choujin. "Terry rolled his eyes. "Excuse me for worrying 'bout ya."

"I guess that done makes me better than ya." Quillen pointed at Keitaro. "You spent so long beating Dear Old Dad while I got a new record."

"Hey, give me a break! My dad was the best of the best."

"Nuh-uh, he just stole the spotlight from my dad!"

"You take that back!"

"Make me, Pig-face."

"You asked for it!"

Terry just sighed as his best friend and his older sister began fighting yet again.

* * *

The graduation matches were over. The graduating class was taking a breather and preparing for the next day's award ceremonies. Keitaro, however, was trying to locate his manager in the middle of the academy's graduation party.

"Little Meat, where are you?" Keitaro called, growling in frustration. Little Meat had promised to attend Keitaro's graduation party, but was now nowhere to be seen.

"Oh, Kei, I forgot to tell you this." Mantaro blurted, his cheeks stuffed full with beef bowls. "Mari had some health problems, so Little Meat needed to stay with her. He told me to tell you that he's sorry he couldn't make it and that he can't come to Earth in a while."

Keitaro groaned. "Some graduation this turns out to be. First, I have to fight in a super-hard match against Dad. Now, I'm going off to Earth, with no manager to boot. What am I gonna do?"

"You just suck it up and move on." The headmaster appeared from behind Keitaro. "When I was your age, I also had a long string of bad luck. However, I learned to keep on going no matter what…"

"Shut up, Dik." Both Keitaro and Mantaro chorused.

"It's not Dik!" The headmaster screamed.

"Well, Son, at least you've still got your friends." Mantaro draped his arm comfortingly around his son.

"Yeah!" Terry and Quillen turned to Keitaro, giving him a thumbs-up. "At least you've still got us."

Keitaro smiled. Maybe this would not be so bad after all.

* * *

_Terry the Third's dialogue in the first part of the chapter is a little bit out of character, but at the time I could not find any information on his personality (the only thing about him in the forum was a mention made in his sister Quillen's profile), so I improvised and made him a bit like his father. His dialogue and actions revert back to his original character toward the part with the hand of Hercules, however. Some of his actions (especially the fight with Red Wolf) come from elements in the Neo Muscle forums, as I am trying to merge all the elements into one fanfic. In the story, Terry make a deragatory comment about Indians, but no offense was meant. This was not racism, only a combination of Terry trying to psyche out Red Wolf and being a jerk at the same time._


End file.
